Fuels & Thermochemistry | Topic Notes Fuel and Heats of Reactions.

Fuels & Thermochemistry | Topic Notes

Fuel and Heats of Reactions.

? Crude Oil is a fossil fuel and formed from the bodies of tiny sea creatures that died

millions of years ago, as the layers of mud and slit grew thicker over the years, the

decay caused by bacteria slowly turned these bodies into crude oil and natural

gas.

? It is separated into a number of useful mixtures through a process called Fractional

Distillation.

? This involves heating the crude

oil and separating the various

mixtures on the basis of their

boiling points, each one of

these useful mixtures is called a

fraction.

? The crude oil is heated in the furnace

and enters the fractionating column as

a partially vapourised mixture.

? The fractionating column is a

tall cylindrical tower containing a

series of trays to help collect

the condensed liquids.

? Maintained at high temperature

at the bottom and the temperature decreases up along the

column.

? The larger hydrocarbons with higher boiling points turn to liquids near the bottom

of the column.

? The smaller hydrocarbons remain as gases and rise up along the column.

Fuels & Thermochemistry | Topic Notes

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? Different fractions condense at different levels in the fractionating column. ? Real - Refinery gas, bottled for sale as domestic gas, fuel C1 - C4 ? People - Petrol or light gasoline, motor fuel C5 - C10 ? Never - Naphtha - petrochemical industry, medicines, plastics, solvents and

synthetic fibres C7 - C10 ? Kick - Kerosene - aviation fuel and in stoves C10 - C14 ? Dirty - diesel oil, fuel in trucks, buses, trains and some cars C14 - C19 ? Little - Lubricating oil - reduces wear of engines C10 - C35 ? F****** - Fuel Oil - ships, power stations and heating plants C30 - C40 ? B****** - bitumen - road surfacing/tar, waterproofing and roofing. C35 <

Lubricating Oil, Bitumen and Fuel Oil are the residue fractions, these are the fractions that are left over when the more volatile fractions boil off. Mercaptens are sulfur compounds that are added to odourless gases such as refinery gases so that gas leaks can be detected.

Octane Number is a measure of a fuels tendency to resist knocking or auto ignition measured on a scale of 100 being assigned to 2,2,4 trimethylpentane and 0 being assigned to heptane.

? The early explosion of the petrol air mixture in the car's cylinder is auto ignition or `knocking', the engine can lose power and the cylinders can be damaged as a result, the pistons vibrate and a metallic noise is heard.

? The shorter the alkane chain the higher the ON rating ? The more branched the alkane chain, the higher the ON rating ? Cyclic compounds have a higher ON than straight chain compounds

Tetraethyl lead was used in 1920's as an anti-knock additive, lead pollution from car exhausts had the potential to cause health damage. This lead to `unleaded petrol'

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Lead compounds are toxic and poison metal catalysts in the catalytic converter which means they can no longer reduce levels of pollutants in exhaust fumes.

Isomerisation

Involves changing straight chain alkanes into their isomers. ? The alkanes are heated in the presence of a suitable catalyst and this causes

chains to break. When they do they are allowed to rejoin together and as a result they are more likely to become branched chain alkanes as opposed to straight chain alkanes. ? The straight chain alkanes are then again recycled over a suitable catalyst that converts them to branched chain alkanes ? Pentane and hexane

Catalytic Cracking

Involves the breaking down of long chain hydrocarbon molecules to short chain hydrocarbon molecules for which there is a greater demand. ? Short chain hydrocarbons are used in petrol - huge demand, they tend to be highly

branched which also increases the octane number. ? Involves heating heavier fractions in the presence of a catalyst ? A common reaction is when an alkane is converted into an alkene and a branched

alkane. If you split a saturated alkane atleast one product is unsaturated. ? Alkenes are important feedstock for petrochemicals industry - polythene,

polypropene etc...

Fuels & Thermochemistry | Topic Notes

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Reforming or Dehydrocyclisation

Involves the use of catalysts to form ringed compounds. ? Straight chain alkanes are converted to cycloalkanes and then cycloalkanes are

converted to aromatic compounds. Petrol contains 3/4% benzene - high ON.

Adding Oxygenates

any fuel that contains oxygen in its molecules, eg. methanol, ethanol, MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether). Increases octane number AND gives rise to very little pollution. They are cleaner fuels than hydrocarbons as there are less carbon monoxide in exhaust of cars (Brazil, ethanol)

Hydrogen gas is another fuel. There are 2 methods of manufacturing it: (I) Steam reforming of natural gas - CH4 + H20 = 3H2 +CO, reacting methane

with steam in presence of suitable catalyst. (II) Electrolysis of water - H20 -------> H2 +0.502, more expensive because of

high electricity costs

Burning hydrogen is very environmentally friendly - only by product is water, used to manufacture ammonia, hydrogenating vegetable oils in making margarine. hydrogen forms an explosive mixture with air so there are problems with storage and transport.

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Thermochemistry

Exothermic - any chemical reaction that produces heat is exothermic and is represented by delta H. MINUS DELTA H. e.g. burning of food inside the body, the reaction of sodium dichromate and ethanol. Endothermic - a reaction that takes in heat - + Delta H. e.g. sherbert with water

Heat of reaction is the heat change that takes place when the number of moles of reactants indicated in the balanced equation for the reaction react completely.

Thermochemical equations must be balanced, the value of delta H must be written and the states of reactants and products must be given, e.g. gas, liquid etc...

Heat of combustion is the heat change that takes place when 1 mole of a substance is completely burned in excess oxygen. (general term)

important notes: ? C + 1/2O2 --------> CO delta H = -111kJmol^-1 This is not the heat of combustion because when

carbon is COMPLETELY burned in excess oxygen it forms carbon DIOXIDE not carbon monoxide. ? Heat of combustion is measured using a bomb calorimeter. ? Small steel container with a screw on cap, the sample is placed in the crucible, the bomb is placed in the container of water (calorimeter), oxygen is pumped into the bomb and the sample is ignited by the electric wires. ? Bomb calorimeters also compare the efficiency of various fuels and gives the kilogram calorific value of substances with a variable composition (coal, petrol, peat).

The kilogram calorific value of a fuel is the heat energy produced when 1kg of the fuel is completely burned in oxygen.

Fuels & Thermochemistry | Topic Notes

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